A quick browse through Google Play, Apple App store, and Windows Store will tell you how many cool games and widgets are popping up daily in the mobile app universe. And if you want to be first to try the latest and coolest apps today, your phone definitely needs A LOT of storage space. Sadly, most of us don’t have enough phone memory to spare.
When you wish to expand your handset’s storage to accommodate more new apps or keep the device functioning optimally, you should think about doing one, two, or all of these space-saving tips:
Delete Apps
With hundreds, even thousands, of apps at your fingertips online, it really won’t take long before you fill your phone up to the brim with all sorts of applications. Nothing wrong with that, except having too many of these apps will eventually drag your handset’s performance and speed.
If you don’t want your smartphone to run at a turtle’s pace whenever you’re opening your email or checking out your social media accounts, it’s best to delete some of those apps that you’re no longer using. With a bit of scrutiny, you’ll be surprised at how many apps you can live without.
In case you’ve purchased some apps and are hesitant to remove them, keep in mind that such purchases are managed by the account linked to your phone—be it a Gmail account, a Windows account, or an Apple ID. With that said, you can readily install the said app at a later date without being charged all over again.
Transfer Photos
It’s quite convenient how today’s phones let you capture life’s moments. It can be a huge let-down, however, when its shutter speed keeps you from taking consecutive photos. In this case, it’s your phone’s memory that is to blame.
That’s why it’s a good idea to back up your pictures (as well as all your files) once in a while. By giving you an opportunity to delete photos from your smartphone, you can consequently free up some space and keep those shutter lags to a minimum. Plus, this practice will prevent you from losing any important photographs in case something happens to your phone.
To do this, check to see if your phone company offers some kind of cloud service where you can store photos online. When it does, it’s fairly easy transferring images to any hard drive. Even if your phone’s service provider doesn’t offer such a convenience, there are always third-party alternatives like Dropbox.
Aside from this, there’s the traditional method of connecting your phone to a computer with a USB. Nowadays, it’s a breeze syncing your pictures to your PC. All the photos now get automatically detected through your phone’s plug-and-play capability.
Delete Old Messages
Frankly, text messages don’t take much space on your phone at all. Not unless you’ve got thousands of them then that’s when things get interesting.
Put together all the texts, WhatsApps, Facebook messages, or whatever social app you use and they’ll all add up! And we’re not just talking about basic texts here as most of us have probably sent GIFs, videos, and photos to our friends. In that case, we bet your phone’s messaging data could even reach gigabytes!
With that said, we recommend that you save pictures and videos you’ve shared with friends on social media elsewhere. As for the rest, they’ll have to sadly go to the trash bin.
Expand Phone Memory
There’s no quicker way to solve your phone’s limited storage space than by getting an extra memory card. The fact is that most Android and Windows handsets today come with a memory card slot. You can easily insert a MicroSD card into that slot that adds up as much as 200GB of extra space. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for iPhone handsets as their storage capacity is predetermined with the unit’s model.
It’s worth noting that an Android smartphone’s use for SD cards is limited to storing media files. So, it only offers an indirect solution for RAM shortage in reality. Luckily, for those whose handsets run the latest Android OS—Marshmallow—they now have access to a feature called ‘Adoptable Storage’ to remedy this restriction. Still, not all phone manufacturers currently support such a useful add-on (we’re looking at you, Samsung Galaxy S7!).
On the other hand, Windows phone users have it easier. Their devices automatically treat SD cards as an extension of their internal memory.
For iPhone owners, a workaround to their handset’s physical limitation is to get a Leef iBridge, a mobile storage space solution. This external memory device may not work as seamlessly as a memory card but it’s the quickest fix you’ll find.
A shortage of space on your iPhone, Windows or Android phone may be caused by a few other technical factors. It’s still wise, though, to perform these tips when you find yourself struggling to add any more mobile apps. It definitely won’t hurt getting back a few megabytes from deleting all your ex’s gut-wrenching texts, would it?
Looking for more tips on expanding your smartphone’s storage space? Stay tuned for our upcoming post on ways to expand memory on an iPhone, Android, and Windows handset!
